Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources

Abstract Recently, the concept of resilience has gained new momentum in organization studies. It is held to be a very promising concept to explain how organizations can survive and thrive amidst adversity or turbulence. However, findings from an earlier review about resilience in the organizational and business context show that, although empirical research on the concept has increased, there is still a need for more clarity in terms of its measurement. The aim of this paper is to present a systematic review of the organizational resilience construct that covers both conceptual and operational issues. We discuss why researchers criticize resilience for being fuzzy and move on to identify and analyse existing literature under the lens of construct development and taxonomies. With this study, we aim to point out conceptual problems for future researchers to address conceptual clarity and to develop a clearer, more parsimonious concept. We conclude with a suggestion about future measurement.

India, the second largest agro-based economy with year-round crop cultivation, generates a large amount of agricultural waste, including crop residues. In the absence of adequate sustainable management practices, approximately 92 seems a very small number of metric tons of crop waste is burned every year in India, causing excessive particulate matter emissions and air pollution. Crop residue burning has become a major environmental problem causing health issues as well as contributing to global warming. Composting, biochar production and mechanization are a few effective sustainable techniques that can help to curtail the issue while retaining the nutrients present in the crop residue in the soil. The government of India has attempted to curtail this problem, through numerous measures and campaigns designed to promote sustainable management methods such as converting crop residue into energy. However, the alarming rise of air pollution levels caused by crop residue burning in the city of Delhi and other northern areas in India observed in recent years, especially in and after the year of 2015, suggest that the issues is not yet under control. The solution to crop residue burning lies in the effective implementation of sustainable management practices with Government interventions and policies. This manuscript addresses the underlying technical as well as policy issues that has prevented India from achieving a long-lasting solution and also potential solutions that have been overlooked. However, effective implementation of these techniques also requires us to look at other socioeconomic aspects that had not been considered. This manuscript also discusses some of the policy considerations and functionality based on the analyses and current practices. The agricultural waste sector can benefit immensely from some of the examples from other waste sectors such as the municipal solid waste (MSW) and wastewater management where collection, segregation, recycling and disposal are institutionalized to secure an operational system. Active stakeholder involvement including education and empowerment of farmers along with technical solutions and product manufacturing can also assist tremendously. Even though the issue of crop residue burning touches many sectors, such as environment, agriculture, economy, social aspects, education, and energy, the past governmental efforts mainly revolved around agriculture and energy. This sectorial thinking is another barrier that needs to be broken. The government of India as well as governments of other developing countries can benefit from the emerging concept of nexus thinking in managing environmental resources. Nexus thinking promotes a higher-level integration and higher level of stakeholder involvement that goes beyond the disciplinary boundaries, providing a supporting platform to solve issues such as crop residue burning.

Abstract Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being 1,2 , addressing the global biodiversity crisis 3 still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever 4 . Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) 5 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals 6 , predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature 7 . Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change 8 , pandemic emergence 9 and socio-environmental injustices 10 . On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions 7,11 . Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures.

The incidence of autoimmune diseases is increasing along with the expansion of industrial food processing and food additive consumption. The intestinal epithelial barrier, with its intercellular tight junction, controls the equilibrium between tolerance and immunity to non-self-antigens. As a result, particular attention is being placed on the role of tight junction dysfunction in the pathogenesis of AD. Tight junction leakage is enhanced by many luminal components, commonly used industrial food additives being some of them. Glucose, salt, emulsifiers, organic solvents, gluten, microbial transglutaminase, and nanoparticles are extensively and increasingly used by the food industry, claim the manufacturers, to improve the qualities of food. However, all of the aforementioned additives increase intestinal permeability by breaching the integrity of tight junction paracellular transfer. In fact, tight junction dysfunction is common in multiple autoimmune diseases and the central part played by the tight junction in autoimmune diseases pathogenesis is extensively described. It is hypothesized that commonly used industrial food additives abrogate human epithelial barrier function, thus, increasing intestinal permeability through the opened tight junction, resulting in entry of foreign immunogenic antigens and activation of the autoimmune cascade. Future research on food additives exposure-intestinal permeability-autoimmunity interplay will enhance our knowledge of the common mechanisms associated with autoimmune progression.

Detecting changes in climate is a prerequisite for a better understanding of the climate and developing adaptation and mitigation measures at a regional and local scale. In this study long-term trends in rainfall and maximum and minimum temperature (T-max and T-min) were analysed on seasonal and annual time scales for East Africa. High resolution gridded rainfall (1981-2016) and temperature (1979-2010) data from international databases like the Climate Hazards Group are used. Long-term seasonal trend analysis shows a non-significant (except for small areas), decreasing (increasing) trend in rainfall in eastern (western) parts of Ethiopia and Kenya and a decreasing trend in large parts of Tanzania during the long rainy season. On the other hand, a non-significant increasing trend in large parts of the region is observed during the short rain season. With regard to annual trends, results largely confirm seasonal analyses: only a few significant trends in rainfall, but significant increasing trends in T-max (up to 1.9 °C) and T-min (up to 1.2 °C) for virtually the whole region. Our results demonstrate the need and added value of analysing climate trends based on data with high spatial resolution allowing sustainable adaptation measures at local scales.

Boards of directors affect corporate strategy and decision-making through monitoring of management and resource provision. Recently, an increasing number of studies have examined the relationships between board characteristics and corporate social responsibility (CSR). These studies have yielded inconsistent findings. This article therefore reports the results of a study applying meta-analytical techniques to a sample of 82 empirical studies to help clarify the relationships between board characteristics and CSR. Although prior research has tended to apply relatively simplistic models investigating the impact of individual board characteristics independently and only directly, we adopt a more complex perspective to shed new light on the board characteristics–CSR nexus. Specifically, we use a meta-analytic path model that accounts for the potential interplay between board characteristics in determining CSR and tests whether the presence of a CSR committee plays a meditating role. Our findings suggest that board size, board independence, and female board representation are partially interrelated with each other and jointly influence CSR directly as well as indirectly via the presence of a CSR committee. In addition, we find that country-level institutional factors act as moderators and that the relationships differ with regard to the specific dimension of CSR (i.e., social, environmental, or aggregate).

East Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions of Africa to extreme weather and climate events. Regional and local information on climate extremes is critical for monitoring and managing the impacts and developing sustainable adaptation measures. However, this type of information is not readily available at the necessary spatial resolution. Therefore, here we test trends and variability of temperature (1979–2010) and precipitation (1981–2016) extremes in East Africa, particularly Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, at a spatial resolution of 0.1 and 0.05°, respectively, using the indices defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI). We use gridded data sets with high accuracy and resolution from the Terrestrial Hydrology Research Group, University of Princeton and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS). Trends of 19 indices are computed by fitting a linear model and using the nonparametric Mann–Kendall test and the magnitude of change is computed using the Sen's slope method. The results show an increasing trend in monthly maximum and minimum values of daily maximum and minimum temperature in large parts of the region. This is accompanied by significant increasing trends in warm nights (TN90p), warm days (TX90p), warm spell duration index (WSDI), and summer days index (SU). In addition, cold days (TX10p) and cold nights (TN10p) showed a significant decreasing trend. In general, the results show an increasing tendency in temperatures extremes, which is in line with rising global mean temperature. In addition, most of the temperature extremes observed after 2000 are warmer than the long‐term mean (1979–2010). Precipitation indices, on the other hand, showed increasing and decreasing trends in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, but no general pattern. The outcomes enable identifying hot spot areas and planning of adaptation and mitigation measures at much finer spatial scale than previously possible.

The world's largest afforestation programs implemented by China made a great contribution to the global "greening up." These programs have received worldwide attention due to its contribution toward achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. However, emerging studies have suggested that these campaigns, when not properly implemented, resulted in unintended ecological and water security concerns at the regional scale. While mounting evidence shows that afforestation causes substantial reduction in water yield at the watershed scale, process-based studies on how forest plantations alter the partitioning of rainwater and affect water balance components in natural vegetation are still lacking at the plot scale. This lack of science-based data prevents a comprehensive understanding of forest-related ecosystem services such as soil conservation and water supply under climate change. The present study represents the first "Paired Plot" study of the water balance of afforestation on the Loess Plateau. We investigate the effects of forest structure and environmental factors on the full water cycle in a typical multilayer plantation forest composed of black locust, one of the most popular tree species for plantations worldwide. We measure the ecohydrological components of a black locust versus natural grassland on adjacent sites. The startling finding of this study is that, contrary to the general belief, the understory-instead of the overstory-was the main water consumer in this plantation. Moreover, there is a strict physiological regulation of forest transpiration. In contrast to grassland, annual seepage under the forest was minor in years with an average rainfall. We conclude that global long-term greening efforts in drylands require careful ecohydrologic evaluation so that green and blue water trade-offs are properly addressed. This is especially important for reforestation-based watershed land management, that aims at carbon sequestration in mitigating climate change while maintaining regional water security, to be effective on a large scale.

Abstract. Managing environmental resources under conditions of climate change and extreme climate events remains among the most challenging research tasks in the field of sustainable development. A particular challenge in many regions such as East Africa is often the lack of sufficiently long-term and spatially representative observed climate data. To overcome this data challenge we used a combination of accessible data sources based on station data, earth observations by remote sensing, and regional climate models. The accuracy of the Africa Rainfall Climatology version 2.0 (ARC2), Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation (CHIRP), CHIRP with Station data (CHIRPS), Observational-Reanalysis Hybrid (ORH), and regional climate models (RCMs) are evaluated against station data obtained from the respective national weather services and international databases. We did so by performing a comparison in three ways: point to pixel, point to area grid cell average, and stations' average to area grid cell average over 21 regions of East Africa: 17 in Ethiopia, 2 in Kenya, and 2 in Tanzania. We found that the latter method provides better correlation and significantly reduces biases and errors. The correlations were analysed at daily, dekadal (10 days), and monthly resolution for rainfall and maximum and minimum temperature (Tmax and Tmin) covering the period of 1983–2005. At a daily timescale, CHIRPS, followed by ARC2 and CHIRP, is the best performing rainfall product compared to ORH, individual RCMs (I-RCM), and RCMs' mean (RCMs). CHIRPS captures the daily rainfall characteristics well, such as average daily rainfall, amount of wet periods, and total rainfall. Compared to CHIRPS, ARC2 showed higher underestimation of the total (−30 %) and daily (−14 %) rainfall. CHIRP, on the other hand, showed higher underestimation of the average daily rainfall (−53 %) and duration of dry periods (−29 %). Overall, the evaluation revealed that in terms of multiple statistical measures used on daily, dekadal, and monthly timescales, CHIRPS, CHIRP, and ARC2 are the best performing rainfall products, while ORH, I-RCM, and RCMs are the worst performing products. For Tmax and Tmin, ORH was identified as the most suitable product compared to I-RCM and RCMs. Our results indicate that CHIRPS (rainfall) and ORH (Tmax and Tmin), with higher spatial resolution, should be the preferential data sources to be used for climate change and hydrological studies in areas of East Africa where station data are not accessible.

Anthropogenic activities have substantially changed natural landscapes, especially in regions which are extremely affected by population growth and climate change such as East African countries. Understanding the patterns of land-use and land-cover (LULC) change is important for efficient environmental management, including effective water management practice. Using remote sensing techniques and geographic information systems (GIS), this study focused on changes in LULC patterns of the upstream and downstream Wami River Basin over 16 years. Multitemporal satellite imagery of the Landsat series was used to map LULC changes and was divided into three stages (2000–2006, 2006–2011, and 2011–2016). The results for the change-detection analysis and the change matrix table from 2000 to 2016 show the extent of LULC changes occurring in different LULC classes, while most of the grassland, bushland, and woodland were intensively changed to cultivated land both upstream and downstream. These changes indicate that the increase of cultivated land was the result of population growth, especially downstream, while the primary socioeconomic activity remains agriculture both upstream and downstream. In general, net gain and net loss were observed downstream, which indicate that it was more affected compared to upstream. Hence, proper management of the basin, including land use planning, is required to avoid resources-use conflict between upstream and downstream users.

This study investigates the trend in monthly and annual rainfall, minimum and maximum temperature (Tmin and Tmax) using the Mann–Kendall (MK) test and Sen’s slope (SS) method and evaluates the significance of their variability for maize, sorghum and millet yields in northern Togo employing multiple regression analysis. The historical data of Kara, Niamtougou, Mango and Dapaong weather stations from 1977 to 2012 were used. Four non-parametric methods—Alexandersson’s Standard Normal Homogeneity Test (SNHT), Buishand’s Range Test (BRT), Pettitt’s Test (PT) and Von Neumann’s Ratio Test (VNRT)—were applied to detect homogeneity in the data. For the data which were serially correlated, a modified version of the MK test (pre-whitening) was utilised. Results showed an increasing trend in the annual rainfall in all four locations. However, this trend was only significant at Dapaong (p < 0.1). There was an increasing trend in Tmax at Kara, Mango and Niamtougou, unlike Dapaong where Tmax revealed a significant decreasing trend (p < 0.01). Similarly, there was an increasing trend in Tmin at Kara, Mango and Dapaong, unlike Niamtougou where Tmin showed a non-significant decreasing trend (p > 0.05). Rainfall in Dapaong was found to have increased (7.79 mm/year) more than the other locations such as Kara (2.20 mm/year), Niamtougou (4.57 mm/year) and Mango (0.67 mm). Tmax increased by 0.13, 0.13 and 0.32 °C per decade at Kara, Niamtougou and Mango, respectively, and decreased by 0.20 per decade in Dapaong. Likewise, Tmin increased by 0.07, 0.20 and 0.02 °C per decade at Kara, Mango and Dapaong, respectively, and decreased by 0.01 °C per decade at Niamtougou. Results of multiple regression analysis revealed nonlinear yield responses to changes in rainfall and temperature. Rainfall and temperature variability affects rainfed cereal crops production, but the effects vary across crops. The temperature has a positive effect on maize yield in Kara, Niamtougou and Mango but a negative effect on sorghum in Niamtougou and millet in Dapaong, while rainfall has a negative effect on maize yield in Niamtougou and Dapaong and millet yield in Mango. In all locations, rainfall and temperature variability has a significant effect on the cereal crop yields. There is, therefore, a need to adopt some adaptation strategies for sustainable agricultural production in northern Togo.

Abstract Purpose Case studies on life cycle assessments frequently admit that the precision of their outcome could be undermined due to temporal issues, though they usually refrain from offering much more detail. In addition, available overview papers and reviews on problems and challenges in LCA do not address the whole range of temporal issues. As those are major sources of inaccuracies and influence each other, it is important to get a clear picture of them, to close gaps in definitions, to systemize temporal issues, and to show their interdependencies and proposed solutions. In order to identify the state of science on those questions, we conducted a systematic literature review. Methods We first systematized temporal issues based on ISO 14040ff and divided them into six types: time horizon, discounting, temporal resolution of the inventory, time-dependent characterization, dynamic weighting, and time-dependent normalization. Building on that, we identified suitable search terms and developed an analysis grid for the content analysis. We included only methodological papers and case studies with original findings on solutions for temporal issues. Bibliographic data, impact types, industrial fields, and methodological contributions were analyzed. Results and discussion Literature differentiates between different types of time horizons. There is one for the whole assessment, defined in goal and scope, one for the life cycle inventory, and one for the impact characterization. Setting a time horizon for the assessment is regarded as equivalent to the application of discounting. Both very long and very short time horizons of the assessment are not practical depending on the topic assessed in the LCA. Very short ones would offend the principle of intergenerational equality, while very long ones would marginalize short-term actions and thereby reduce incentives to act. There is consensus in the literature that temporally differentiated life cycle inventories and time-dependent, or at least time horizon dependent, characterization improve the accuracy of LCA. Generally, dynamic life cycle assessments are attractive for companies because the calculation results are not only more accurate but are often also lower than in static life cycle assessments. Conclusion The main questions where we did not find consensus are the issue of the length of the time horizon of the assessment and the issue of discounting. Those are regarded as subjective and are encountered with sensitivity or scenario analysis. Further investigations should be taken for a better understanding of this issue and for concrete solutions because their influence on the results of life cycle assessments is often fundamental.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is an essential service for an urban population to maintain sanitation. Managing MSW is complex as the treatment/recovery options depend not only on the volume of waste, but also on the socioeconomic conditions of the population. This paper focusses on MSW management in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. Dominance of uncontrolled disposal options of MSW in the region, such as open dumps, has an adverse influence on health and sanitation. Interest in source separation practices and recycling is low in the LAC region. Furthermore, economic matters such as poor financial planning and ineffective billing systems also hinder service sustainability. Rapid urbanization is another characteristic feature in the region. The large urban centres that accommodate over 80% of the region’s population pose their own challenges to MSW management. However, the same large volume of MSW generated can become a steady supply of resources, if recovery options are prioritized. Governance is one aspect that binds many activities and stakeholders involved in MSW management. This manuscript describes how we may look at MSW management in LAC from the governance perspective. The issues, as well as the best potential solutions, are both described within three categories of governance: bureaucratic, market, and network. The governance perspective can assist by explaining which stakeholders are involved and who should be responsible for what. Financial issues are the major setbacks observed in the bureaucratic governance institutions that can be reversed with better billing strategies. MSW is still not seen by the private sector as a place to make investments, perhaps due to the negative social attitude associated with waste. The market governance aspects may help increase the efficiency and profitability of the MSW market. Private sector initiatives such as cost-effective microenterprises should be encouraged and the projects that fit under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) defined in the Kyoto Protocol should be incentivized to attract technology and capital. Lastly, network governance is at the centre of attention due to its flexibility in supporting/absorbing public-private partnerships, especially the participation of the informal sector that is important to the LAC region. Many individual waste pickers are providing their services to the LAC region by taking part in collecting and recycling under very unfavourable working conditions.

Attempts to monitor the quality of freshwater resources on a global scale unveil huge data lacks. Involving citizens in data collection has potential to resolve this lack of water quality data. However, it is widely unclear which factors drive the success of citizen science activities. Based on a systematic literature review of 56 peer-reviewed research articles, we identify three sets of factors for successful citizen science projects in water quality monitoring: (i) attributes of citizens (knowledge and experience in collecting data, awareness of environmental problems, motivation, and socio-economic background of citizens), (ii) attributes of institutions (motivation, type of organization, consistent and adequate funding), and (iii) the interactions between citizens and institutions (supporting structure, communication and feedback). These three sets of factors enable a systematic analysis and design of citizen science projects in the future.

Many developing countries have inadequate Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management systems due to lack of not only the awareness, technologies, finances, but also a proper governance that is able to enforce and monitor the regulations. Not all the solutions practiced by and in developed countries fit to the developing country contexts. The local conditions and limitations must always be taken into account when proposing waste management options for developing countries. The excessively high organic waste fraction in MSW and relatively inexpensive labor markets available in developing countries are two of the strengths that have not yet been utilized fully. This manuscript is an attempt to point out the benefits we receive from the above two strengths if we establish organic waste buyback programs. This can only become successful if we find solutions to: (1) collect source-separated organic waste, and then (2) find stable markets for the products made from organic waste. Compost or biogas could be the best bet developing countries can consider as products. However, there must be some policy interventions to support buyback programs at the waste collection stage as well as at the product marketing stage. Implementation of such organic waste buyback centers that can offer some incentives can indirectly motivate residents to do source separation. This will in turn also help promote more recycling, as any waste bin that has no organics in it is much easier for anyone (e.g., waste pickers) to look for other recyclables. Developing country settings such as the Green Container composting program in Cajicá, Colombia, and buyback centers in South Africa that are presented later in the manuscript are thought to be the places where the concept can be implemented with little effort. The environment, economy, and society are considered to be the three dimensions (or pillars) of sustainability. Interestingly, the organic waste buyback centers solution has positive implications on all three aspects of sustainability. Thus, it also supports the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations (UN), by making specific contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as zero hunger (SDG 2), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), climate action (SDG 13), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), and sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11).

Monitoring the qualitative status of freshwaters is an important goal of the international community, as stated in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) indicator 6.3.2 on good ambient water quality. Monitoring data are, however, lacking in many countries, allegedly because of capacity challenges of less-developed countries. So far, however, the relationship between human development and capacity challenges for water quality monitoring have not been analysed systematically. This hinders the implementation of fine-tuned capacity development programmes for water quality monitoring. Against this background, this study takes a global perspective in analysing the link between human development and the capacity challenges countries face in their national water quality monitoring programmes. The analysis is based on the latest data on the human development index and an international online survey amongst experts from science and practice. Results provide evidence of a negative relationship between human development and the capacity challenges to meet SDG 6.3.2 monitoring requirements. This negative relationship increases along the course of the monitoring process, from defining the enabling environment, choosing parameters for the collection of field data, to the analytics and analysis of five commonly used parameters (DO, EC, pH, TP and TN). Our assessment can be used to help practitioners improve technical capacity development activities and to identify and target investment in capacity development for monitoring.

The advancement and modernization of industries have provided numerous benefits to human life including diversification of manufacturing a wide range of products made from plastic materials, thereby leading to the generation of huge quantities of plastic waste. Owing to the increasing issues related with plastic waste, recycling methods have attracted much interest. Recycling not only protects the environment and resources for future generations but also reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. A wide range of valuable products including char, oil, fuels, sorbent materials, and chemicals can be obtained through different techniques. This Review highlights various sustainable research avenues and potential routes to reduce the environmental impact of plastic waste based on both traditional and potential approaches for its utilization.

In order to overcome limitations of climate projections from Global Climate Models (GCMs), such as coarse spatial resolution and biases, in this study, the Statistical Down-Scaling Model (SDSM) is used to downscale daily precipitation and maximum and minimum temperature (T-max and T-min) required by impact assessment models. We focus on East Africa, a region known to be highly vulnerable to climate change and at the same time facing challenges concerning availability and accessibility of climate data. SDSM is first calibrated and validated using observed daily precipitation, (T-max, and T-min) from 214 stations and predictors derived from the reanalysis data of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. For projection (2006-2100), the same predictors derived from the second generation Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2) are used. SDSM projections show an increase in precipitation during the short-rain season (October-December) in large parts of the region in the 2020s (2011-2040), 2050s (2041-2070), and 2080s (2071-2100). During the long-rain season (March-May (MAM)) precipitation is expected to increase (up to 680 mm) in Ethiopia, mainly in the western part, and Kenya and decrease (up to -500 mm) in Tanzania in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s. However, the western part of Ethiopia will be much drier than the baseline period during June-September (JJAS) in the 2020s, 2050s, and 2080s, which indicates a shift in precipitation from JJAS to MAM. Annually, precipitation, T-max, and T-min will be higher than during the baseline period throughout the 21 century in large parts of the region. The projection based on SDSM is in line with the direction of CMIP5 GCMs but differs in magnitude, particularly for T-max and T-min. Overall, we conclude that the downscaled data allow for much more fine-scaled adaptation plans and ultimately better management of the impacts of projected climate in basins of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Abstract For many regions of the world, current climate change projections are only available at coarser spatial resolution from Global Climate Models (GCMs) that cannot directly be used in impact assessment and adaptation studies at regional and local scale. Impact assessment studies require high-resolution climate data to drive impact assessment models. To overcome this data challenge, we produced a station based climate projection (precipitation and maximum and minimum temperature) for Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania using observed daily data from 211 stations obtained from the National Meteorological Agency of Ethiopia and international databases. Moreover, 26 large-scale climate variables derived from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis data (1961–2005) and second generation Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2, 1961–2100) are used. Statistical Down-Scaling Model (SDSM) is used to produce the required high-resolution climate projection by developing a statistical relationship between the large- and local-scale climate variables. The predictors are analysed more than 16458 times and we provided 20 ensembles for the current (1961–2005) and future (2006–2100, under RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5) climate.

This review article discusses the climate, water resources and historical droughts of Africa, drought indices, vulnerability, impact of global warming and land use for drought-prone regions in West, southern and the Greater Horn of Africa, which have suffered recurrent severe droughts in the past. Recent studies detected warming and drying trends in Africa since the mid 20th century. Based on the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5), both northern and southern Africa are projected to experience drying, such as decreasing precipitation, runoff and soil moisture in the 21st century and could become more vulnerable to the impact of droughts. The daily maximum temperature is projected to increase by up to 8°C (RCP8.5 of CMIP5), precipitation indices such as total wet day precipitation (PRCPTOT) and heavy precipitation days (R10 mm) could decrease, while warm spell duration (WSDI) and consecutive dry days (CDD) could increase. Uncertainties of the above long-term projections, teleconnections to climate anomalies such as ENSO and the Madden-Julian Oscillation, which could also affect the water resources of Africa, and capacity building in terms of physical infrastructure and non-structural solutions are also discussed. Given that traditional climate and hydrological data observed in Africa are generally limited, satellite data should also be exploited to fill the data gap for Africa in the future.